lighting acclimation

[plahka]

I recently upgraded lights from PCs to MH. I am acclimating by lessening the photo period. I am running the actinics like I always have, on at 1pm off at 11pm. I only have one timer at the moment and have been runniong the halides by one day one day unplugging them when I get home from work at about 6pm. They then remain unplugged until I get home the next day and plug them back in. They then run on the timer until I get home the next day. So it goes like this; Say, Monday on at 1pm off at 6pm. Tuesday on at 6pm off at 11pm. Wednesday on at 1pm off at 6pm. 5 hours a day alternating times. Does this sound good? And if so, how long should I do it? I have been doing it like this all week.

 

[lcstorc]

Personally I prefer the shading approach. I put several layers of screen between the light and the tank and remove a layer a week. This allows the corals to adjust to the brighter light.

 

[funkpolice]

I've been using the screen method for the last couple weeks, and it seems to be successfull. One leather on the top of the tank was showing signs of bleaching, but is back to normal now. For me this is easier than trturnying to remember turn lights on and off. I'm not sure, but it might be a bad idea to keep switching up the phot period like that. I would go with a shorter amount of time, not a different time. I hope it all works out for you.
bill

 

[plahka]

I only do the time change because it's convenient and a no-brainer to remember. Lights on when I come home from work........turn them off. Lights off.......turn them on. But I may switch to the screen method.

 

[funkpolice]

I did some testing with a par meter and found that without any shading my par levels were around 600 at 4" deep. With just egg crate 550. With just one pc of nylon screen 300. So It doesn't take much. I went from 130W pc, to my t5 fixture and started with three pcs of screen. One more week and I'm acclimated. On a side note, you should have all your lights on timers. I never used a timer, and would turn the lights on and off at approx. the same time everyday. When I finally bought some timers, there was a noticeable improvement in all my zoas and soft corals. I think they like the regular schedule.
bill

 

[squiers007]

Hey funkpolice, I just upgraded to T5 from PC as well. You said you used 3 pieces of screen to acclimate the coral to the new light. Are you removing one screen a week or every 2 weeks? Thanks.

 

[funkpolice]

The plan was to remove one screen a week. after the first week I removed a screen and two days later I started seeing a leather getting really light, so I put the screen back on. So, it wasn't very consistent. I would remove a screen when I felt everything had adjusted to the current lighting situation, and then watch closely for any signs of ill health. Over all it took a little over 6 weeks to remove all the screen and the egg crate underneath it. I didn't lose any corals, but I did lose almost all my corraline. My rocks bleached pure white, but it's starting to grow back lately. Good luck, you'll know if your tank need more time. Which t5s did you go with?
bill

 

[squiers007]

I went with the Nova Extreme 4x24W 24" fixture. The light should arrive today so I am going to head to the store to buy some screen material. Did you use the eggcrate underneath just to hold up the screen, or was it there for another purpose? All I have in the tank right now are softies, but I plan on adding some LPS's once the tank has acclimated to the new light. Also, do you think this new light will be able to support any of the easier to keep SPS corals? I have a 20 gallon tank, with a HOB filter and an Aqua C remora skimmer, that has been setup for about 7 months. I will keep you posted with how everything goes.

 

[lcstorc]

I would try the lps first but if you have enough flow and clean enough water you should be able to get away with some SPS under T5s.

 

[funkpolice]

make sure you get the nylon screen and not the metal kind. I used the egg crate only to support the screen, but it did cut down the par a lot. Without the eggcrate 4" below the surface I was getting par readings around 600, with the eggcrate it was closer to 475. I'm not sure about your lights, but like istorc said go with lps first. Maybe google your lights and see what others are keeping under them.
bill

 

[squiers007]

Thanks for the reminder about the nylon screen. Well my lights showed up yesterday and there was a bit of a problem. On the webiste I ordered the lights from, as well as the Current website the description of the fixture says the light is "fan cooled". Well I searched the whole fixture inside and out and there is no sign of a fan anywhere, it even says there is a fan right on the box. So I call up the place I ordered it from and they double check everything and sure enough it should have a fan, so I talk to one of the mangers and he said that he was going to call Current and make sure they hadnt made any changes to there lights and not updated there webpage. So now I am stuck with a light that doesnt have a fan, that I might have to send back, and wont find out anything until Monday at the earliest!